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Zen and The Art of Ink Fade Testing

by Leonardo Menderes, Guest Writer

Editor's Note: Leonardo left some intriguing results to his own pen fade testing in the comments of the Pen Freak post on my own Weblog. I felt this information was interesting enough to have Leonardo write up in detail, so his findings could receive more exposure on Journalisimo. Thanks Leonardo! — Mike Rohde

Important work notes on the wall of my cube were fading fast recently, so I decided to embark on a search for quality archival pens. All of the cheap ballpoint pens I've used in the past 5 years or so turn out to be faders, so I clearly needed to upgrade.

The first test-set was a card with black-pen writing, taped against a basement window for the South sun for a few weeks.

Set 1 (South window, 2 weeks)

The Zebra Sarasa and Jimnie pens were a lasting and deep black. However, they are a bit wide, even for the spec 0.7mm, run down fast, and take extra dry-time. The Sarasa is very hard to start after dis-use too. The capped Jimnie is better.

Fountain pen lovers might love the richness of Sarasa. If you can dip the tip in melting candle wax it will keep well.

The Rose-Art X500 is a pricier ball-point. It is not as dense as a gel, but the lines are small, and it hardly faded. Very nice! (for a ballpoint). Slight skip at work...not sure why.

The Pentel RSVP is a popular fancy ballpoint, and it was smooth and dense going on, but had almost completely faded away....oops! Not good for notes, methinks.

(Then I migrated to nicer pens for my tinier notes)

Set 2 (A card leaning against a fuorescent bulb, 10dy x 24hr)

The Pentel RSVP was faded badly... at this point, it was valuable as an indicator of how much light exposure there was. This was equivalent about a year on my cube wall.

The Sanford uni-ball Onyx is a popular gel office pen, very dense, and quick-drying. It takes some pressure to avoid skip until broken in, and bleeds slightly, but is a great deal if you want a cheap high-grade gel. Perhaps a bit thin for some. Anyway, its fade performance was good: still quite black, slight loss of a blue tossed in for noble looks.

The Pilot P-500: Nice steady lines, finer than other 0.5s! ...a slight 'pebbly feel'....this is the best for writing very small notes..long lines will blob..drying good. Fading: completely unaffected, like new.

Itoya XE-100PU "Xenon" writing: smooth, oily feel, nice! ...angle-sensitive, and needs pressure. Density good for ballpoint. Tip wobbles a little. This means despite the small line, it is only really good for larger writing. Slightly smudgy...lefties beware. Fading: density stayed good, but a little of the loss-of-blue like the uni-ball. Small skips showed up.

Set 3 (5 days, fluorescent bulb touching card)

• The benchmark RSVP pen was well-faded.
• The Pilot G2 (an 0.5) has rock-steady blackness, no fade. Nice writing too: retractable with no tip wobble!! Not quite as tiny as P-500..close though.
• Uni-ball Vision Exact (0.2) to the testing. More precise than onyx..nice. Liquid ink. Lasts super, in true Sanford style. It got juicy with 2 days of use though.. ..too bleedy for my little notes. Bummer. Good for moderate cursive, larger letters.
• The uni-ball Signo micro 207 ..a nice smooth pen, if not as super skip-free as the P-500. Feel is great. No fading (added-on later, after 7 days testing).

Overall Personal Opinions

• Cheap ballpoints are risky these days. A big exception is the uni-ball Onyx. well worth the step-up from 20 to about 50 cents each in bulk!!


• The 0.7 uniball signo 207 (non-micro) is super-smooth and crisp... that's my baby for retractable.


• The P-500 is still unbeatable for tiny block-letters (hard on almost other all pens!)


• The G2 is very nice, but it gets edged on precision by P-500 (its capped cousin) and by the signo on smoothness. If the P-500 cap gets annoying, I will shift the G2 0.5 — but not yet.

Notes: Sanford says capped pens are a bit easier to make skip-free than retractables... ink formulation. Also, larger Hallmark-type stores seem to carry nice pens.

Leonardo Menderes: Meander Around With Me

The New Vanishing Point

"The trim is a bright chrome, which goes well with the barrel color, a very vivid yellow. This is a color that comes quite close to the same shade used on the Parker Mandarin yellow Duofold. In other words, it's not a soft pastel yellow. Pull this pen out of your pocket and folks will know it! It practically lights up the room.

So, the new VP isn't a subtle pen. But it is a very practical one, no doubt about that. The ability to go from a closed pen to one ready to write in a split second is almost too good to be true. Push the button on the end of the barrel, and the nib slides out.

Push it again, and the nib is retracted. Safe from drying out. Click, write. Click, don't write. Click, click, click. It gets hypnotic! If you often find yourself fidgeting with stuff as you sit in meetings, the VP is the perfect pen for you. Of course, your fellow meeting attendees may end up beating you over the head and prying the thing from your fingers... "

The New Vanishing Point
by Phillip Tucker
Stylophiles Online Magazine

[via Christopher Meisenzahl]

The Blackwing 602

"The Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 has been a favorite among artists, designers and writers for many years. I have received many, many emails from users looking for them and wanting to know if they are still available. The Blackwing has been discussed in forums, and has been the subject of newspaper articles, most notably a Boston Globe article in December 2002. Buyers and sellers have been using eBay and The Pencil Pages classifieds to transact Blackwing deals, with prices exceeding $20.00 per pencil.

What is so special about this pencil that its devotees will accept no substitute and make them willing to spend $250.00 for a box of them? It has a sleek and unique design, and if you've ever used one, you know it is a very smooth-writing and easy to use pencil. Its famous slogan "Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed" is no exaggeration. It is also the last of a line of pencils featuring a distinctive rectangular ferrule with a unique, replaceable eraser. I am no artist, but I know that professionals rely on quality and consistency in the tools they use, and the Blackwing was one that could be relied upon."

Doug Martin
The Blackwing 602 - the Final Chapter

eBay Item# 6530627421
Vintage Eberhard Faber Blackwing Pencils #602. 10 pencil mint with box

[Thanks John G.]

Book Factory

"BookFactory is making use of some exciting new technology and processes to bring you archival quality books, custom made to your specifications, in quantities you really need, at lower costs than you are used to paying.

Founded and run by engineers and inventors, the folks at BookFactory understand the importance of quality notebooks for protecting your Intellectual Property. The construction of your notebook needs to be solid with sewn section binding to prevent tampering and acid-free archival safe paper to protect your work. The pages should be numbered with signature blocks for witnesses to sign Disclosed to and Understood By statements on your inventions. We are intimate with the documentation requirements of the U.S. Patent Office and the FDA and we understand why companies often need sequential book numbering on their notebook covers as well as book numbers printed on the pages of their books.

Book Factory

[via LS]

Nanofountain

This is so cool I'm re-posting it from Moleskinerie:

"The first practical fountain pen was invented in 1884 by Lewis Waterman. Although pens with self-contained ink reservoirs had existed for more than a hundred years before his invention, they suffered from ink leaks and other troubles. Waterman solved these problems by inventing the capillary feed which produced even ink flow. Now fountain pen history is repeating itself in the tiny world of nanoscale writing.

Researchers at Northwestern University have demonstrated writing at the sub-100 nanometer molecular scale in fountain-pen fashion. They developed a novel atomic force microscope (AFM) probe chip with an integrated microfluidic system for capillary feeding of molecular ink.

Physorg

[Thanks Mike Shea!]

Notepads Rule

"I tried (and loved) the Moleskine notebook, but it didn't work for me as a note taking implement (though it is perfect as a journal or diary).

My favored technique was inspired by David Allen's use of legal pads, which allowed him to tear things off and put them in "In." Here is what I do:

I carry around a spiral notebook with micro-perforated pages, and take all my notes in there... I prefer notebooks by a company called "Notebound" because they are cheap and durable, but look professional enough for a high-level business meeting. They also have a plastic pocket inside, which is good for stashing a couple of business cards and to serve as a traveling inbox when I don't have my red folder with me. I can also put temporary things like directions, etc. that I've printed out to help me get where I'm going. I can find these at Walgreen's for around $5 for the 10.5" x 8.5" size (120 or 160 page versions are available).

Here's where these are different from those beautiful Moleskine's: As I process the pages, I can tear them out and a) discard them, b) put the action items into my Outlook task list, c) file them, d) hand them off to someone else..."

Dwane Melancon
Genuine Curiosity

25 Years of Post-It Notes

"On April 6, 1980, though, the endless and complicated march of progress took a short break as a remarkable new technology arrived in stationery stores around the nation. It was so simple to use, even a CEO could master it. It was so perfectly designed, it didn’t require semi-annual upgrades. It was so versatile, it actually performed better than advertised. It was the Post-it Note.

Two and a half decades later, as the little yellow notes celebrate their silver anniversary, it’s easy to forget what a recent innovation they are. Thanks to their material simplicity, they seem more closely related to workplace antiquities like the stapler and the hole-punch than integrated chips. Instead, they’re an exemplary product of their time. Foreshadowing the web, they offered an easy way to link one piece of information to another in a precisely contextual way. Foreshadowing email, they made informal, asynchronous communication with your co-workers a major part of modern office life."

The Rake

Image: Damon's New Office, Interactive Tools

Basic French

"The thing I love most about France is the style of living. Somehow, it just seems right - drinking good strong coffee in the morning with a croissant or pain au chocolat, eating a long lunch en plein air and really savoring good fresh food, drinking delicious, inexpensive wine or a cardinale as an aperitif before a late dinner, and being in a place so incredibly beautiful that each time you turn a corner you are in awe. I'm thinking first of Paris, though as I sit looking out the window here in Montbrey, or remember Audrey's house (the former rectory of a nearby church) near Annecy, I am in love with the french countryside. And the language - I love the French language."

Carol B. Neily
Basic French

Check out their books and stationery section

Stypen Elite Fountain Pens

"Stypen Elite fountain pens feature a retractable nib! Innovative design is reminiscent of early safety pens. The Stypen Elite uses standard short international ink cartridges, one is included with each pen. Stypen Up measures 4.5 inches long. Available in medium steel iridium nib in a variety of finishes.

Obtainable in a fountain /roller pen set, as well as individually."

Pendemonium

Shirt Pocket Briefcase

"Use our slender pocket-size leather note pad to take notes when you're mobile. With separate pockets for fresh and completed 3 x 5 cards, our Shirt Pocket Briefcase will help you keep notes in order."

Levenger

LINK

[Thanks LS]